Trier & Companyhttp://triercompany.com
Communications for technology companies of all shapes and sizes. We create insights, stories, content and digital experiences that influence...Wed, 23 Nov 2016 22:18:06 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1Strategic Communications Leaders. Are You One?http://triercompany.com/strategic-communications-leaders-one/
Sun, 02 Oct 2016 22:05:14 +0000http://triercompany.com/?p=13310Strategic Communications Leaders. Are You One? 1. Self-aware: They understand how their role fits within the organization. Today’s communications professionals understand the interconnectedness of the marketing, advertising, content, and strategy functions of their organization, including how they fit in among them. Aligning communications with other aspects of the business allows them to amplify everyone’s efforts, […]

1. Self-aware: They understand how their role fits within the organization.
Today’s communications professionals understand the interconnectedness of the marketing, advertising, content, and strategy functions of their organization, including how they fit in among them. Aligning communications with other aspects of the business allows them to amplify everyone’s efforts, not just their own.
2. Data-driven: They use data to drive everyday decision making.
Communications without data is like skipping sunscreen: It’s totally feasible, but not recommended and will soon become a thing of the past. Without data or metrics, you are essentially executing old-guard communications that doesn’t position you for leadership or improve your value. Tracking results and gathering data enables you to make informed, forward-looking decisions — something that effective communications leaders “get” innately.
3. Constructively opinionated: They speak up.
How can we give a voice to clients for whom we work, if we don’t have our own? If we want to lead companies and clients in the right direction, we must speak up. We must build trust by making sound decisions consistently, then develop our own voices — without giving into our smaller selves and cowering in the corner. Get really good at voicing your opinion via thought leadership opportunities, and you could even influence public opinion!
4. Thoughtful: communications leaders plan with purpose and think outside the box.
Leaders don’t just do things to check a box off a list. They critically think about why they are doing something before aiming and firing. I have data to support that when you send a thoughtful, targeted story that gets a journalist 50% of the way there, your shot at landing that story increases exponentially. This is a big boost, and it illustrates how spending a little more time on your work in the beginning pays off.
5. Brave: They aren’t afraid of getting fired or finding a new role elsewhere.
If you’re working for someone who is demanding you do arbitrary tasks with no foresight, then you should question whether or not your workplace is a fit. This “activity-based approach to communications is one of the reasons the industry is criticized — it implies to others that we’re all tactics and no strategy.
You can’t be afraid to point out fault, even if the thought of doing so is scary. In a nutshell: If the agency you work for isn’t being strategic and you continue to work there, your reputation is on the line just as much as the agency’s. And we all know a leader doesn’t hand over the reins to their personal brand or reputation.
Continue to speak up, take charge, and forge your way at companies where leadership and innovation are encouraged. Fulfilling tasks and assignments without a greater purpose is just-plain boring anyways. (And you are far from boring.)[/fusion_text]

]]>The Building of Influence in B2B Marketinghttp://triercompany.com/the-building-of-influence/
http://triercompany.com/the-building-of-influence/#respondWed, 31 Aug 2016 16:35:14 +0000http://triercompany.com/the-building-of-influence/Over the last six months, we’ve been focusing on influence – blogging about it, talking to client and colleagues, researching the impact of online influence. What started as a basic premise – the idea that amidst all the new dynamics in the market, influence still matters – has grown into a full-blown methodology that is […]

]]>Over the last six months, we’ve been focusing on influence – blogging about it, talking to client and colleagues, researching the impact of online influence. What started as a basic premise – the idea that amidst all the new dynamics in the market, influence still matters – has grown into a full-blown methodology that is shaping the way Trier and Company does business.

We call it the Building of Influence.

We’ve all experienced how much marketing and communications has changed over the last several years with the advent of social media. That’s old news.

Trier and Company’s new framework is based on a data-driven approach that uncovers the real influencers in a market, not based on gut feel or old assumptions but what the data tells us about who really matters. On top of that, we layer our smarts about the market and how those influencers work in order to drive awareness and influence sales.

We’re talking evolution not revolution, but the change is an important one and makes it possible for us to measure the results of communications in terms that matter most to our clients – market awareness, influencer engagement and customer preference, to name a few.

Building of Influence

The Building of Influence starts with the Influence Map – a graphic overview of the top influencers in a market, ranked by reach (eyeballs on content), resonance (virality of content) and relevance (to a particular topic). With the map, we do a deeper dive on individual influencers, providing a Power Profile of the person, their online footprint, and hot buttons. The Influence Map drives the communication strategy and guides when, how and where we’ll engage with key influencers.

The Power Profile

From there, we build an integrated set of programs that blend inbound communications (helping customers find you), outbound communications (getting messages in front of customers through direct and indirect channels), and peer influence initiatives that foster word of mouth.

One of the keys to the framework is integration. Many of our clients have learned the hard way that the scattershot approach doesn’t work. The Building of Influence creates synergy between marketing programs by building on a common influence model, strategy and content.

The other key is analytics. Putting the right analytics in place up front ensures we’re measuring the outcomes accurately and allows us to feed that data back into the strategy to keep us on track and delivering against business objectives.

Communications Strategy

From the earliest concept stage, we’ve been socializing this new approach with clients and friends of the agency in order to get a reality check and feedback. Almost without exception, the response has been positive. These days, when budgets – especially in marketing – are under a microscope, people are responding to the idea of an approach that allows them to make decisions and allocate resources based on data and facts.

We’ve gotten more than a dozen Influence Maps under our belt now and continue to refine the concept. So to the clients who jumped in with us to test these new waters, and the friends and colleagues who listened to us pitch the concept, thanks for your feedback, trust and candor. We feel like we’re on to something here and have created a framework that is results-oriented and strategic. The days of the airy-fairy “the value of PR can’t really be measured” are long gone.

]]>http://triercompany.com/the-building-of-influence/feed/0You are What You Write: How Content is Shaping Your Brandhttp://triercompany.com/1601content/
http://triercompany.com/1601content/#respondTue, 30 Aug 2016 06:20:50 +0000http://triercompany.com/?p=1601Experts have revealed that this year we will consider content as the ‘king,’ something that they’ve used to explain how content will shape the current and future trends of the online marketing and branding processes. Citing Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs’s October 2013 study, Yahoo! Finance said that B2B marketers are relying on content to […]

Experts have revealed that this year we will consider content as the ‘king,’ something that they’ve used to explain how content will shape the current and future trends of the online marketing and branding processes. Citing Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs’s October 2013 study, Yahoo! Finance said that B2B marketers are relying on content to increase brand awareness and inbound traffic and sales. “Though the industry is still in the early adoption phase of content marketing, it’s clear that many are seeing success and are continuing to increase their tactics and devote more resources and budgets to producing great content experiences,” said Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute.

In this entry, we’ll stress how content marketing can boost your brand.

Content always goes viral

Content, whether article, video, or infographic, always have the tendency to trend online, especially if it’s very interesting and engaging. Branding experts from Let’s Get Wise posted on Twitter a Forbes article, outlining seven reasons why content goes viral. Here’s why taking advantage of these reasons paves the way for a wide brand adoption:

· People crave for knowledge

Forbes writer Glenn Llopic said that consumers must perceive you as their ‘knowledge-enabler,” or the bearer of new insights, information, and news. By knowing what readers follow, you’ll be able to design your content marketing strategy after their needs and wants.

· Emotional connection

Content always serves as the human face of a company. Llopic reiterates the importance of a genuine connection, wherein your articles will help them overcome their daily problems. This mental imagery is employed by big names such as Apple, wherein they sell their content as solutions and representations of what life should be like – simple and purposeful.

Email newsletters

Despite social media becoming one of the best platform for online marketing, there’s no denying that email newsletters still has its own share of strengths. Some email subscribers still have the habit of checking their emails daily. In Brick Marketing’s words: “many people only use social media to connect with friends and family, not businesses. Email newsletters continue to be a good method of communication.”

Take note, however, that the key to a successful email newsletter marketing campaign is testing. Aside from the email body itself, AB testing must be done to ensure your email greeting, subject line, pitches, and the closing remark are effective and well-executed.

“A picture paints a thousand words”

Image-based content is becoming one of the norms in brand awareness. With the popularity of image-sharing platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, uploading a photo became indicative of a label’s ideal and visions, on top of its products.

· Instagram

Heidi Cohen notes that 5% of the biggest labels post an average of 50 marketing photos per month. She recommends maximizing an editorial calendar, which is integrated in your Instagram account. This allows you to determine the type of branded content that resonates with your followers.

· Snapchat

A photo messaging platform, Snapchat is ideal for rewarding patrons with mobile coupons. By giving incentives, patrons will be able to view you as a brand with lots of freebies, thus increasing the chance for returning customers. However, take note that this platform only allows images to be viewed under a strict 10-second limit.

Blogging: The Heart of Content Marketing

Ad Solutions notes that blogging is the bread and butter of content marketing. In the United States alone, there are more than 140 million blog readers. With blogging, it’s easy to focus and compete with larger publications by producing massive helpful articles. Take note that focus plays a vital part here, allowing you to center your pieces into your company’s specific niche. By offering genuine insights, your readers will be able to perceive you as an industry expert.

Video-based content

A November 2013 QuickSprout survey said that a video can do more than still photos. Videos enhance your public image in two ways:

A compelling video allows your site visitors to stay on your page. With proper use of visual storytelling, it encourages them to browse your entire video catalog. This is considered as one of the most guided principles of content marketing, wherein customers value relevant and engaging content.

Indeed, there are unlimited opportunities offered by content marketing. Which of these is the most effective tool for your business?

]]>http://triercompany.com/1601content/feed/0WHY DO YOU NEED A SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT?http://triercompany.com/why-you-need-social-media-audit/
Tue, 12 Jul 2016 08:00:49 +0000http://triercompany.com/?p=13275So you have a ton of social media profiles for your brand and everything is starting to go pretty smoothly. Or so it seems. Niggling questions start to surface about the effectiveness of what you are doing. With so much going on, it’s all getting out of control. It’s time for a social media audit. […]

]]>So you have a ton of social media profiles for your brand and everything is starting to go pretty smoothly. Or so it seems. Niggling questions start to surface about the effectiveness of what you are doing. With so much going on, it’s all getting out of control.

It’s time for a social media audit. Carrying out an audit will allow you to organize your social media work. You’ll know what is working and what isn’t, and you’ll (most importantly) be able to use the information you gather to create better content in the right places.

And if you’re particularly thorough (and honest) during the audit, you’ll probably get rid of a lot of time sinks.

HOW TO START

There is no specific place to start, but it’s generally accepted that one of the very best starting points is a look at your metrics. You need to get to know them inside out. Your data will tell you everything about what works and what stinks when it comes to your social media.

Data will show you the info on each aspect of your work. You’ll see info about reach and engagement, both of platforms and content itself. This is crucial, because the more you get to find out, the more informed your decisions are when it comes to pursuing content themes and content strategies.

Take time to understand the metrics side of things and everything becomes a little clearer.

CONSISTENCY

You next need to focus on your various profiles and make sure the hymn sheet they are using is the same. This is a vital aspect because so many brands right now are still stuck with profiles that are vastly different to each other.

Is your Twitter profile the same in tone and branding as your Instagram? They don’t need to be clones, but they should offer the same brand feel. And while we’re at it and you’re looking at your profiles, make sure that they are all filled out to the max.

There is nothing worse than finding a brand’s social media profiles and then discovering that the profiles themselves are incomplete. It smacks of unprofessionalism, and also a distinct lack of care when it comes to the audience. As part of your audit, check all your profiles for completeness. It takes minutes to fill most of them out, so there is no excuse.

Branding is absolutely possible on social media, so the consistency is important. Take a good look at all of your profiles. Even if the profiles differ a little in tone, your audience should be able to instantly work out what your brand is saying, wherever you are. If that branding isn’t clear, change it.

GET FOCUSED

Once you have a handle on some of the metrics, and you have cleaned out the rubbish when it comes to presentation and profile completeness, it’s time to get focused on a few social media goals. It’s easy to just post every day or every hour and expect that to bring you results, but without a clear set of goals you aren’t going to get anywhere.

The easiest goal? That’s simple: fan base growth. Take a look at Twitter today and then set out a goal for an increased number of followers by next month. Or look at your Instagram page and do the same. This is one of the easiest targets to set because it is all about the numbers.

Switch it up a little and look at engagement too. If you want to get the very best out of your social media profiles, part of your audit should involve setting goals for engagement. You’re looking here at any kind contact or involvement with what you do. If your tweets get retweeted, that is a form of engagement. So you set a goal for an increase in the number of retweets, for example.

If you are rocking it on Instagram, the number of likes you get is a good indicator of engagement. So are comments. The more people start to respond and essentially interact with what you do, the more engagement you have. Cranking up your profiles by setting goals of engagement can be an excellent byproduct of an audit.

Create a social media report with all these metrics. Review it regularly to monitor your performance towards reaching your goals.

GET THE GOOD STUFF DONE AGAIN, AND AGAIN

If you find, during your audit, that some posts get a ton more engagement than others, then you have a very powerful tool at your fingertips.

Finding stuff that gets more joy from the audience you have means that you are then able to simply reproduce it.

We don’t mean make a carbon copy of what you do and then go off and play that round of golf. Instead, we mean making a note of which types of content and topics work, and then creating more of the same.

CURB THE BIG, WASTEFUL SPEND

Perhaps the biggest problem here for many brands is the link between engagement and spending. If you are actually spending money on promoting posts, and you can’t see (during the audit) engagement increase that is proportionate to spending, then you are wasting money. The audit can tell you this, and engagement is, therefore, a huge part of your knowledge gathering process.

You may, of course, find that some spending is making a difference, that’s the other side of the coin. But carrying out an audit gives you that coin in the first place. If you can see that expenditure every month brings you great results, then you know that your money is going in the right places. Play around with it, and check your data against spending over certain periods. The answers will be clear soon enough.

Take your brand down the route outlined above and you should be a little leaner and meaner. You should be able to identify which content works best. You should have tidied up your profiles and made them brand-true. You should also be on top of your spending, to the extent that you know exactly which content brings you some ROI and what simply doesn’t.

]]>Learn to Set Social Media Goals That Make Sense for Your Brandhttp://triercompany.com/set-social-media-goals-for-your-brand/
Thu, 16 Jun 2016 08:00:05 +0000http://triercompany.com/?p=13251Do you ever wonder how the number of “laughing until crying” emojis on a post REALLY impact the bottom line? Or wonder how shelling out a perfectly good budget to gain new followers can bring in a conversion? If so, you’re asking the right question: do my Social Media goals make sense? Truthfully, one could […]

Do you ever wonder how the number of “laughing until crying” emojis on a post REALLY impact the bottom line? Or wonder how shelling out a perfectly good budget to gain new followers can bring in a conversion? If so, you’re asking the right question: do my Social Media goals make sense?

Truthfully, one could write an entire book trying to answer this question. There are several valid ways to go about setting useful targets, which are all united by a focus on connecting Social Media goals with measurable business objectives.

Mapping social metrics to the customer journey is one way to connect Social Media efforts to business goals. As a result, your social program is tied to conversions. This is the method you’ll be reading about today. It’s an easy way to create measurable social efforts that directly benefit business.

Connecting Social Media Metrics to Business Goals

The customer journey is a way of representing a person’s experience with your brand. It follows this brand adventurer from discovery through conversion. Each touch point they visit is a bit different, and some steps are more important than others. What makes it a journey, and not simply a map, is order: the customer interacts and progresses in a particular sequence.

Here’s an example of a customer journey from Google. Though this one is just a generalization of a small Pets/Animals related business in the US, its feasibility is solid. It is a result of thousands of real customer interactions recorded by Google Analytics – nothing to scoff at! You can play with this tool yourself by clicking here.

Let’s step through this one together. Imagine, for a moment, that you’re looking to buy dog treats. For whom, you may ask? Let’s say the lucky pooch is Social Audit’s mascot, Dash.

Really though, could this dog be any more handsome?

You discover a brand through an organic Google search, or any other search engine. You search generally, and use un-branded keywords like “dog treat.”

You find the Pet/Animal business represented in the customer journey. Most appealing to you is a gourmet line of dog foods. Through social, their paid search campaigns, or an email newsletter that you (probably) signed up for!

You’re now aware of this brand, and are ready to start actively searching for it. You really want Dash to have only the finest dog treats, and this business seems like the right fit. This is where paid branded search campaigns come in. You start visiting their Social Media pages through branded search results.

Last comes the referral. Maybe it was a particularly tempting link on their email newsletter or a favorable review on a trusted blog. Either way, your journey ends with a glorious click of the “buy” button and a very happy Dash. Finally, a use for all of that drool.

Now that we’ve completed our hypothetical customer journey, let’s focus on the desired end result: a conversion! Remember, nobody can argue against the value of a conversion—especially a Social Media or Digital Marketing manager! That means that linking a customer journey from Social Media to a conversion makes proving value relatively easy. The bottom line of the customer journey IS the bottom line. Since a conversion is tied to the customer journey, the model is automatically aligned with core business goals.

So, how can a brand hitch their Social Media goals along for the customer journey ride?

Aligning Social Media Goals with the Customer Journey

Social Media has two noticeable characteristics in the customer journey.

The first is that Social Media played a role very early on in the path to purchase. It is introduced at an earlier portion of the customer journey than other interactions. However, it is not the first interaction. Your customer has already come in contact with your brand and likely has at least a basic awareness of it. The role of Social Media in this journey is to convince your customer of your brand’s value.

Drive and measure viewership of promotional and thought leadership content using metrics like impressions/target audience reach. It is just as important to analyze positive sentiment and engagement using metrics like shares, favorites, and likes. Set specific goals, and you now have instant focus and measurable value for your Social Media program.

The customer journey varies by business size and industry. Let’s imagine that this Pets/Animals business does well (through awesome Social Media management) and grows to a medium-sized business. The public loves those luxury dog treats, and the business has been able to expand significantly. The customer journey looks a bit different now:

Now Social Media is not just an early step in the customer journey. It is the very first. Accordingly, Social Media targets should be set to incentivize the driving of traffic to the channels. This is the “shout it from the rooftops” approach. Push for traffic by measuring impressions, reach, and follower count.

Always remember that an effective Social Media presence reacts to changing business demands. Using the customer journey mapping process outlined in this blog post, you can adjust your social strategy as your business grows. Across all approaches, the key to measuring the value of social is proper connections to KPIs.

Measuring the “immeasurable” effects of reputation has been a challenge since the dawn of PR. However, with this strategy, it can be pretty straightforward. To quote the late, great Peter Drucker, “What gets measured gets managed.” However, if you still find yourself lost, we’re here for you. The team at Social Audit has a lot of experience getting Social Media plans to make sense and we know how to connect the dots for management.

]]>What Social Media Marketing Metrics Matter Most?http://triercompany.com/social-audit-social-media-marketing-metrics-matter/
Wed, 01 Jun 2016 15:30:29 +0000http://triercompany.com/?p=13239Even while social media has evolved into a critical marketing channel, measuring and quantifying social media marketing remains a challenge for most organizations. 91 percent of marketers have trouble determining the most effective social media tactics and 88 percent are not sure how to measure return on social media investment, according to Social Media Examiner’s […]

]]>Even while social media has evolved into a critical marketing channel, measuring and quantifying social media marketing remains a challenge for most organizations. 91 percent of marketers have trouble determining the most effective social media tactics and 88 percent are not sure how to measure return on social media investment, according to Social Media Examiner’s 2015 Social Media Marketing Industry report.

In attempting to measure social media effectiveness, marketers struggle with the vast amount of social media data. While most traditional marketing metrics are well established, there is little consensus on social media metrics, partly due to the fragmented and proprietary nature of social media networks.

As social media budgets grow in both absolute size and as a percentage of the total marketing budget, measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing has become crucial. Key questions are: What metrics are most important to your brand’s business objectives? What metrics deliver real insight on social media marketing success? Regrettably, there’s no “magic metric” for measuring social media campaigns. The metrics that matter depend on the organization’s objectives. Accumulating large numbers of likes or followers may have little value unless they impact larger marketing goals such as customer retention or conversions.

Four Simplest Social Media Metrics

Conversation. These include comments and replies, direct or indirect replies to social content. Conversation promotes audience interaction, creating goodwill or preventing bad will. Positive conversations also contribute to customer retention and development.

Applause. Likes and favorites. These actions indicate agreement, interest in, or empathy with the content being posted. Applause creates goodwill with a low barrier to entry, contributing to customer retention.

Amplification. Shares, retweets, or repins. These actions share content to a wider audience. Amplification is crucial for customer acquisition since these actions increase the reach of messages. It can directly or indirectly contribute to customer retention and development. Caution: Some amplifications can be negative in tone or message.

Identify high-level marketing goals for the brand, market and campaign.

Establish a set of social media objectives that contribute to those goals.

Define a measurement strategy that can track performance against those goals.

Seeking Social Media ROI

Digital marketing consultant Shane Barker of Search Engine People highlights these metrics for measuring social media ROI, the ultimate metric.

Reach. Your number of social media followers, or the number of people who see your content.

Website referral traffic. Track the social media pages that send traffic to your website to find which networks benefit you most.

Quality leads. Learn how many individuals inquire about a product as a result of a social media interaction.

Customers. Track how many customers each social media campaign produces, the sales volume, and how many remain loyal customers.

Many companies attempt to translate the number of followers into their social media ROI. That’s a mistake. Determining the ROI involves tracking conversions, determining monetary value of conversions, and quantify overall social media benefits.

“No matter how difficult the process of measuring your ROI for social media may be, it’s helpful for knowing what is working for your site and what could use improvement,” Barker states.

Bottom Line: Although identifying and tracking the right social media metrics can be challenging, it’s imperative for marketers to measure their social media campaigns in order to quantify their contributions to the company’s bottom line and identify the most successful social media strategies.

]]>7 Social Media Metrics You Forget to Measurehttp://triercompany.com/social-audit-7-social-media-metrics-forget-measure/
Wed, 25 May 2016 15:45:38 +0000http://triercompany.com/?p=13230I will be the first to admit that I’m tired of reading about social media trends. Perhaps I have social media guru fatigue, but every time I read about a new theory of social business or seven quick steps to employee social engagement, my eyes get the faintest glaze. Even if I enjoy social media […]

]]>I will be the first to admit that I’m tired of reading about social media trends. Perhaps I have social media guru fatigue, but every time I read about a new theory of social business or seven quick steps to employee social engagement, my eyes get the faintest glaze. Even if I enjoy social media blunders as much as the next terrified social media manager, I need more substance in my “X things about social media” posts than those provided in your typical LinkedIn Publisher article.

Among all of this sometimes laughable social media advice, I often forget about the metrics that matter. And I know I’m not alone, since over 60% of marketers still have trouble measuring social ROI. Even if social is now the best way to engage with customers, as Gartner has shown, we’ve lost sight of some of the most important social media metrics in an overload of marketing data. So, to sort out this mess, here are a few metrics that may have gotten lost in the shuffle.

1. Brand Health/Brand Love

I will begin to describe this metric with a caveat: awareness metrics are often highly overvalued by social media managers, who can sometimes convince digital managers and CMOs that a generalized sense of awareness is more important than driving social conversions. However, brand health (sometimes called brand love) is a good measure of something marketers should be keenly attuned to–how your customers are talking about your brand.

Or, as the Altimeter Group puts it, “Brand health — a measure of how people feel about, talk about, and act toward your brand — is of primary concern for executives and the most common use case for social data.”

2. Social Media Engagements

Unfortunately, when talking about social media metrics, I knew I’d eventually need to bring out the dreaded E word–engagement. Instead of just counting or evaluating engagements on a channel, social media data nerds need to begin to tie social engagements to other actions–conversions, cost, downloads, or any other business goal.

With every ad campaign that launches on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram, the cost per click goes up. That’s why smart marketers need to start paying for equally-valuable engagement actions. CMSWire had it right when they said, “Social media offers brands an opportunity to have valuable interactions with consumers, without a direct link to a conversion. A focus on engagement is vital to your social media initiatives.” Just remember that, as valuable as some in-network engagements can be, you don’t want the cost per engagement to creep, or the number of engagements per conversion to fall. Keep an eye on both, and engagements like retweets or repins will become a valuable part of your social path to purchase.

3. Social Content Half-Life

Much like a radioactive element, your social content has a half-life. In order to create the perfect blogs, content campaigns, and web experiences to share on social, you need to know how your content performs over time. Make sure that your measurement of content-specific subsets of your metrics (like shares and click-throughs) extend over at least a one-month period, so you can see when your content performance peaks, and when it…dies. That way you can figure out the perfect cadence of new content for your audience, without worrying that it will wither on the vine.

“You are spending time and money creating great content. But do you know how long that piece continues to reap rewards?”

4. Parts of a Conversion

This theory of conversion may be almost four years old, but it holds true to today’s social conversions. In 2011, Avinash Kaushik defined the “four parts” of a conversion, which are conversion, amplification, applause, and economic value. Each of these have rates that are defined below:

Depending on your ability to perform social attribution, “economic value” may be a guiding principle, rather than an actionable metric. Nonetheless, looking at each of these per channel will also help you to determine which social networks are your strongest, and which need some love.

5. Social Shares from Your Website

Too often, marketers focus on the website referral traffic from their social media accounts, without appreciating the number of shares from their websitee content to variouchannels. If you have share buttons on your site, you need to remember to pull the metrics from these outlets for content distribution. Then you can determine KPIs for outbound social sharing, and optimize both your content and the sharing options themselves.

6. Social Media Customer Service Metrics

Social response time has long been one of the most important metrics to customer service and social care teams. But does your team ever look beyond the volume of social responses to discover the content of these inquiries? Zendesk proposes the following questions to start the social care metrics discussion:

How many comments appear to be written in moments of frustration, perhaps after having a poor customer experience in person or online?

How many are technical or account-specific questions?

How many comments provide feedback, positive or negative?

How many questions can be answered using links to existing help content?

How many brand mentions require, or would benefit from, a response?

It is important to assess the types of inquiries your brand is receiving and to place the answers to these questions readily available on your website or social account. As you begin to create a better UX for your customers, you should expect these inquiries to decrease. In the long run, creating a Social Media Customer Service plan is more cost-effective than having a bloated customer service team.

7. Targeting Across Channels

We all know the importance of targeting paid campaigns. Without targeting paid click-through rates can be abysmal, and your target audience may never even see your ad. But sometimes organizations forget the targeting options for their owned (free) social media. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and more allow you to target your post to a certain segment, either by geography, seniority, or gender. This can be a very useful tool when trying to cut through the noise, or post different messages to different customer types.

Although these are all very useful metrics, it’s important to know what channels you’re using and what business goals you’re trying to accomplish before you begin the social media KPI discussion. Don’t know how to get started? Take our social analytics quiz to get advice tailored to your needs.

]]>Harness the Power of Social Intelligence. Make Data-Driven Decisions with Actionable Insightshttp://triercompany.com/social-audit-harness-power-social-intelligence-data-driven-decisions/
Tue, 17 May 2016 04:00:36 +0000http://triercompany.com/?p=13214Imagine a life without Facebook? For many it’s an impossibility. On February 4th, 2014 Facebook completed 10 years since a Harvard sophomore named Mark Zuckerberg created a website called Thefacebook.com to let his classmates find their friends online. So much has happened in the social space since then and much has been said about the […]

]]>Imagine a life without Facebook? For many it’s an impossibility. On February 4th, 2014 Facebook completed 10 years since a Harvard sophomore named Mark Zuckerberg created a website called Thefacebook.com to let his classmates find their friends online.

So much has happened in the social space since then and much has been said about the growth of social media — its multiple channels and the enormous scope of its content and subject matter. Social media seems to offer something for everyone. With the proliferation of mobile devices, social media is available everywhere and its impact is immediate. What began as an innocuous technology trend only a few short years ago has become a powerful instrument of social change.

In business, social media is now a powerful marketing tool that is pushing boundaries with new uses and new users with each passing day. It can be deployed to share news from a corporate event on a near real-time basis, or create a buzz about a great new product within minutes of its launch. Or, just as quickly, it can be used to share the details of an unpleasant experience with customer service.

Marketing Digitization – Following the Customer

Social media is re-shaping the way organizations engage their customers and nurture their relationship with brands, products and services. Here are some figures that give an idea of the scale of the social media phenomenon:

1.43 billion people worldwide visited a social networking site last year

Nearly 1 in 8 people worldwide have their own Facebook page

Last year, one million new accounts were added to Twitter everyday

Three million new blogs are activated every month

65 percent of social media users say they use it to learn more about brands, products and services

For marketers, a good portion of social media’s value lies in its ability to aggregate communities of interest, identify specific demographics and thus enable marketers to precisely segment and engage their audience.

Social Media – A Catalyst for Richer Customer Insights

Like any source of customer data, social media provides an understanding of a customer’s preferences, aspirations & needs. This could help establish sign posts within an organization to better engage with customers at different engagement points in the relationship. These sign posts act as a roadmap to help the organization knit together a comprehensive view of customer’s actions. Social media can be a catalyst to help companies achieve:

Influence and Intimacy – Social media amplifies the “relationship” in customer relationship management.

Scale and speed – Social media channels enable marketers to reach more customers faster, dynamically, and with greater precision. It can take months of planning, creative development and media purchases to launch a print ad campaign, compared to the immediacy of Twitter and Facebook campaigns.

Social media enables organizations to connect and engage consumers in a unique way. It provides a path to richer customer analysis, using technologies capable of funneling and consolidating customer insights. Additionally, Social media allows a brand to contribute to a conversation or opportunity that previously would have been private if it was not posted to a public social media account.

Transforming Social Media Intelligence into Effective Actions

Simply listening to customers on social media is not enough. Listening is a starting point. But the end goal is business value.

Organizations best able to differentiate themselves have an ability to incorporate social media analytics into their customer and marketing automation processes, to monetize their investments and integrate insights into their customer data for actionability.

The time to act is now. Indeed, as a result of the rapid growth of social media, recent years have seen an accelerated shift in marketing spend, moving away from traditional channels such as print and broadcast to digital channels. But this isn’t just for marketers. It must involve cross functional teams, such as IT and product teams that help the organization create relationships, build advocacy and improve loyalty — all with the goal of driving revenue and social media provides the means to do just that.

]]>So you think you’re a ‘thought leader?’ Here’s why you’re probably NOT.http://triercompany.com/think-youre-thought-leader-heres-youre-probably/
http://triercompany.com/think-youre-thought-leader-heres-youre-probably/#respondMon, 21 Sep 2015 22:26:30 +0000http://triercompany.com/?p=1659Could marketers, who are trained to adopt innovative trends in digital, such as content marketing, become victims of dogma? Yes. Consider ‘Thought Leadership‘, one of the key strategies that are being misused and overused. I truly cringe every time someone presents their PR or digital marketing plan with a ‘thought leadership’ program component without ever […]

Could marketers, who are trained to adopt innovative trends in digital, such as content marketing, become victims of dogma? Yes. Consider ‘Thought Leadership‘, one of the key strategies that are being misused and overused. I truly cringe every time someone presents their PR or digital marketing plan with a ‘thought leadership’ program component without ever asking, ‘is this truly thoughtful?’ or ‘does it add value to the discourse with our clients?’

Under the guise of creating an uber-brand of ‘The Thinker’ versus the ‘Doer’ which provides a strategic platform to express your digital brand, many companies, it seems, have taken a liking to self-anointing themselves as thought leaders. You think I am kidding? Just google the term ‘thought leader’, or check out the Twitter profiles of book authors and CEOs or some of the corporate management consultants that have their LinkedIn Profile adorned with ‘I am a Thought Leader’.

Our take? You’re not a thought leader – if you say you are. In fact, quite the opposite. You are self-aggrandizer, because any original thought that results in leadership must come from a third-party that validates your position in the digital ecosphere or community of influence. By self-describing yourself as a thought leader, you are opening yourself to be ridiculed, challenged and doubted by those who truly carry the burden of creating original, authentic voice in the community.

Why is our assertion so important to consider? Content marketing is about elevating your position to engage in a force-multiplying meaningful dialogue with audience that appreciates your strong opinions, informed or full of passion. But if you’re not doing so, you’re not a thought leader!

Not sure? Here are four clues why you might not be a thought leader.

1. Your own digital profile is full adjectives of self-puffery such as “I’m an Innovator”, “I’m a Thought Leader”, “and I’m the best at….” While it may be true, true thought leaders are just like true classical artists. They don’t self-ascribe it; the critics and followers do.

2. Your content marketing white papers and case studies consist of compilation of other people’s thoughts that are essentially curation versus original thinking.

3. Most of your Twitter and LinkedIn followers are people that like you or belong to your same industry versus the industry that your marketing is supposed to target.

4. Your content marketing is void of actual opinions that stimulate strong opposition, lacking the intensity of an ‘earth is flat’ type statement.

Aristotle, a real thought leader, in his time and beyond said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” Apply that test to all of your digital content marketing and see whether you are closer to Aristotle or closer to Sideshow Bob (Krusty the Clown’s assistant from the Simpsons).

]]>http://triercompany.com/think-youre-thought-leader-heres-youre-probably/feed/0Steve Jobs’ Rules for Public Relationshttp://triercompany.com/stevejobs/
http://triercompany.com/stevejobs/#respondTue, 12 May 2015 15:47:56 +0000http://triercompany.com/?p=1673Steve Jobs, the late Apple co-founder and CEO, was a master businessman and showman – and he had very clear rules for how he handled Public Relations. His way of combining apparent simplicity with an unrelenting demand for quality turned Apple into a giant. And he had rules for public relations. He also knew how […]

Steve Jobs, the late Apple co-founder and CEO, was a master businessman and showman – and he had very clear rules for how he handled Public Relations. His way of combining apparent simplicity with an unrelenting demand for quality turned Apple into a giant. And he had rules for public relations.

He also knew how to use the media—for better or worse. Under Jobs, Apple honed the fine art of playing reporters and editors, timing information releases, and withholding stories to punish those who wouldn’t cooperate. Some of these tactics were models of how to smartly work with the press. Others were ethically suspect at best. Given the well-publicized history of Good Steve/Bad Steve, the man that could alternately inspire and then terrify employees, that should be no surprise.

Here are half a dozen techniques that Apple, under Jobs, regularly used to get its message out. Whether good or bad—and sometimes it’s all how you use things—each can be effective. Even if you don’t want to use them all, keep your eyes open because your competitors might, and recognizing what a rival is doing can be powerful.

Be Secretive.

Apple was one of the most secretive companies on the planet under Jobs. Not only was there great discipline about who was allowed to say what, but the company put into place what was described to me by some who would know as one of the most draconian and restrictive nondisclosure agreements the industry has ever seen. Apple reportedly has a Worldwide Loyalty Team that tracks down sources of unauthorized information leaks.

Forgetting the heavy-handed tactics for a moment, the impulse to be secretive is brilliant. Much of the press thrives on breaking news, which is a relative of that little thrill most people can get telling friends something juicy they hadn’t previously heard.

Now, many in the media who thrive on this sort of hard-news jones would love to think you have something that would interest their audiences (and potentially advance their careers). Being secretive without anything behind it will go nowhere. You need the right balance. An artificial air of mystery will get laughed down. On the other hand, telling everyone everything you’re doing is wearing on the listeners. Try just keeping developments secret until you’re ready to release the details. That way you also avoid alerting competitors.

Pick Your Favorites.

There were news outlets and particular reporters that Apple and Jobs liked. Walt Mossberg when he was at the Wall Street Journal, for example. John Gruber, of the blog Daring Fireball, was always another well-sourced writer. But Jobs wasn’t looking for fawning from this cadre. He found smart writers who got what he was trying to do and would appreciate it, then he and the company deepened the relationships.

Not even Apple could sweet talk the entire press, but it’s helpful to find sympathetic listeners who can help explain what you’re trying to communicate and have PR be successful.

There’s a second type of favorite: reporters who long for insider access and the chance for scoops. They don’t have the same kind of loyalty, but will likely be more sympathetic in coverage for fear of losing the insider access that, to them, is a personal competitive career advantage. Mind you, not all reporters who excel in the art of the scoop are like this. Some are just good at building relationships and will write what they want, not what you want.

Punish Those Who Don’t Cooperate.

Apple and Jobs could get heavy-handed when it came to bad press, which meant stories that not only didn’t emphasize the Apple songbook but said things the company didn’t want to be public. One weapon was to cut off access to information, which puts beat reporters at a competitive disadvantage since rival outlets would have stories first. Or Apple might release a story that would contradict a reporter and make him or her look sloppy.

This is a dangerous tactic. It takes muscle and importance to make the punishment even noticeable, and it’s also a great way to make enemies that might suddenly become sympathetic to one of your competitors.

Learn How to Leak.

Much of Apple’s ability to push the press was through controlled leaks. A former Apple manager, John Martellaro, has written about how the company engineers a controlled leak of information. The short version is that upper management goes to a lower-level person, asks who they have good connections with in the press, and tells them to “idly mention this information and suggest that if it were published, that would be nice.” Nothing goes into writing (including emails) so there’s no way to track the planted story back to its source.

Planted stories can help companies judge public reaction on a feature, price point, or potential strategy; panic competitors; or even get analysts and influencers more interested in an upcoming product announcement event.

Plant Disinformation.

This is the fancy term for pragmatic lying. Using a controlled leak to a favorite journalist (see how these techniques build on each other?), or even having someone in management make an outright statement, the company says something that’s either blatantly untrue or highly misleading. A classic example was when Jobs declared that Apple wasn’t working on a mobile phone. That statement may have put competitors at ease, giving Jobs more maneuvering room. Another example may have been the repeated rumors that Verizon would finally get the iPhone, long before it actually did, which had the effect of slowing at least some talk about Android.

Perfect Your Presentations.

In marketing and PR, showmanship is everything. Any presentation has to be perfect—smooth, coherent, and compelling. That’s true for any presentation from a new product announcement to an onstage interview at a conference. Journalists often lose their more critical edge when things flow along without a hiccup to wake them up and get them thinking again.